I went to an open mic night a few weeks ago. While I was there a unknown comedian took the stage to tell jokes for about 10 minutes. I didn’t find him to be that funny to begin with. His jokes were a little mediocre, but since I was seated right up front I still laughed here and there. I didn’t want to seem rude. But I couldn’t even break a smile at his last joke.
The so-called “joke” went something like this:
“Sometimes I hack into my friends’ Facebook pages and write out their suicide notes for them.”
I just stared at him. I was wondering why he would even find something like this remotely funny.
This is not the first time I’ve heard someone joke about suicide. I remember a brief Facebook video I watched last year where two comedians joked about a man killing himself after his girlfriend left him. I remember all the people laughing in the comments.
After I started advocating on depression and suicide, someone on Facebook jokingly told me since my drug overdose didn’t take my life, next time I should try blowing my brains out with a gun.
I find it so sad that some people would laugh and joke about someone taking (or attempting to take) their own life… but when it actually happens to someone they love or a big time movie star, they mourn in the aftermath of the suicide. That’s when people ask questions like:
“What could have been done?”
“Why didn’t they try to talk to someone?”
It doesn’t seem as funny to them after it actually hits close to home.
It should never be funny in the first place.
People love to give you flowers after you die, but rarely while you’re still here. Our lives are one of the most precious things we own. Nothing is funny about trying to end it. People need to realize suicide is a serious epidemic — it’s the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. People should never take it lightly because you never know who is struggling with suicidal thoughts.
Suicide is never funny. Take it seriously.
If you or someone you know needs help, see our suicide prevention resources.
If you need support right now, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Jasmin Pierre a mental health advocate, speaker, Creator and CEO of The Safe Place app (one of the few existing culturally competent apps available for mental health stigma in the black community), Certified Peer Support Specialist, and author of the self-help book “A Fight Worth Finishing.” She is from New Orleans, Louisiana. Jasmin is constantly fighting for the rights of those battling Mental Health Challenges.
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